CRM
The cloud giant brought receipts
Salesforce came out swinging with first-quarter results that topped analyst expectations on earnings and showed the kind of double-digit revenue growth Wall Street loves to see from a mature software name. Revenue hit $11.1 billion, up 13% year over year, or 12% in constant currency.
That’s not just “good for a giant company” good. That’s “maybe the AI and enterprise-software story still has some legs” good. And yes, the quarter included contributions from Informatica, which means this isn’t pure organic magic, but investors rarely complain when the combo platter tastes better than expected.
The part markets really care about
The bigger tell was margin expansion and the bump to full-year profit guidance. That’s the kind of combo that says Salesforce isn’t just chasing growth for growth’s sake; it’s trying to grow up without losing the cool-kid software aura.
For investors, the takeaway is pretty straightforward:
- revenue is still growing at a healthy clip
- profitability is improving
- management is feeling confident enough to raise the profit outlook
Why this matters
Salesforce has spent plenty of time lately defending itself from the “is this still a growth stock?” interrogation. Results like this don’t end the debate, but they do make it harder for the skeptics to say the bull case is purely vibes.
Big picture: if you own CRM, you’re betting that enterprise software can still deliver growth and discipline at the same time. On days like this, that bet looks a lot less like wishful thinking and a lot more like a business plan.